Transom repair help needed - see pictures

scb2377

Cadet
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
Messages
19
The lower half (only) of the wood board behind the transom is rotten. I want to cut it out and replace it with new marine wood. I can not use secast in this case , since the wood is not encased in fiberglass/aluminum ? it is open one side. Before I get working, I could use any advice you have.
Questions:
1. Should I actually replace it or is there some resin I can treat it with to preserve it and start the rot?
2. Is there any risk if I use the boat as is for now, without changing the wood? I have a hydrofoil wich would push the motor up, would that add more pressure on the lower screws and cause them to come out?
3. If I replace it, the lower two screws that hold the outboard motor run through the wooden board. Are there any trick to remove the screws without damaging the fiberglass?
4. Do I need to take the motor off the boat before I do this, or having the motor help by the top two screws should be good enough?
Any other advice would be appreciated.
The boat is a V170 1990 Rinker outboard with a Johnson 88 SPL.
 

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tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
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Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

i can not believe rinker left something like that. if it were mine, i would remove the engine (immediately as it could crack the outside glass). i would separate the hull, remove the cap and replace the complete transom. it was one piece to begin with. the glass it in. you also probably have some stringer damage in the stern, from the looks of things.
 

Sorrento 25

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
Messages
181
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

I would support the motor some so that the removal of the lower bolts and wood does not cause any distortion in the transom. Clean all of the old wood out and sand/grind the area with 24-50 grit.

Then I would glass the bottom of the motor well to the transom. This will add some rigidity and isolate the old transom wood from the new piece. Then cut the new piece to fit but leave the very bottom of the transom exposed. It is quite rigid near the area where the bottom meets the transom anyway and there is no need for wood all the way down there where it is most likely to eventually start getting wet again. Then glass over the new piece of wood, onto the bottom of the motor well, and onto the transom/floor.

Use a resin/filler mixture where necessary on inside radiuses and/or radius your piece of wood as necessary to allow the layup to lay nicely without creating any air pockets.

One other thing I would do is epoxy in a thick brass bushing for each of the lower engine mounting bolts when you are all done so that the transom never gets compressed by the bolts. This compression eventually compromises the seal.

I don't see a drain plug?
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

Sorento i totally disagree, with glassing the motor well to the transom, as you can see it is an integrated unit with the cap portion of the hull. it has leaked into the transom, it's been thru the splash well drain. this damage has come from water inside the hull, to be that extensive. rain, skiing, tubing. it started at the bottom and wicked up the transom.
 

gcboat

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
May 29, 2007
Messages
1,822
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

You can use Seacast in this situation. Go to their website and follow their directions on making an interior template.http://transomrepair.com/zk/
It may or may not be extra work, but it's a boat. :D
 

Sorrento 25

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
Messages
181
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

Well, I believe that glassing the motor well to the transom is a golden oppportunity to add some stiffness and rigidity to the transom at that central point where the wood is being cut off. I am of course assuming that the wood above that is dry as stated. It appears to me as if the water came from the bilge and wicked up since there is no bilge drain that I can see and only a bilge pump on a switch.

I replaced the wood on an entire transom once and if there is an easier way I'd consider it. I guess the thing to do is to make that first cut and then probe up to see if the rest is dry and solid or not.
 

scb2377

Cadet
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
Messages
19
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

Thank you all for the replies. Have more questions, I am not a “cadet” for nothing.
1. TD, I do not believe I can separate the hull in order to replace the entire piece of wood. The fiberglass folds down over the top part of the wood. Can that be? I can take clearer pictures tomorrow an post if needed.
2. Are there any tricks to remove the screws without damaging the fiberglass?
3. How long would it take the wood to get to in this shape. I did not check last year, but I would assume it must have been in similar shape.
4. Stringer damage in the stern – Sorrento, what is that?
5. Glassing the motor well - how do you do that. What exactly does glassing mean?
The boat did not have an automatic pump when I bought it 3 years ago. I installed one. I guess if left uncovered a lot of water accumulated in the boat, and that could have cause the damage. The floors and everything else is hard and in good shape.
 

Solittle

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Apr 28, 2002
Messages
7,518
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

scb - Wood rot is caused by a fungus. For any repair to be solid the fungus & rot must be killed ot removed. Simply cutting out the wet, soft, black stuff and fitting a new piece wil not stop the fungus from spreading.

You can seperate the top from the hull. The manufacturer put them together so just take the time to figgure out how to seperate them.
 

scb2377

Cadet
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
Messages
19
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

I figured out what the stringers are. Would mine have them and if so would they be out of wood? How do I find out if mine are in good shape? If they are rotten, how importnat is it that I fix them and how difficult. As you have probably figured out, I dont know much about how boats are built?

Question? Why do manufactirers even use wood for the stringers and transome. Why not sue plastics, or something that does not rot? It seems like a no brainer to me.
 

Mano del Sol

Seaman
Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Messages
56
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

Wood is cheap, available, easy to work with and has a very high strength-to-weight ratio. Most all other options are either prohibitively expensive or very heavy?usually both. Woods only downside is that it rots and that can be remedied with proper treatment of the wood and proper care afterward.

There guys?does that sound like I know what I'm talking about? :D
 

croSSed

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 13, 2005
Messages
249
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

Over the last 3 years having done 2 transoms, my advice is to start over. See the link at the bottom here for my latest boat resto, and pm me if you have any questions. Don't monkey around trying to fix what you have there. Completely replace the transom. Use 3/4" plywood fiberglassed together to make a piece that is 1 1/2" thick. Read and study anything you can on a repair of this kind. There are all kinds of resources on the Internet. A Rinker like yours was put together one of two ways. The top/deck of the boat was made as a separate piece to the bottom/hull of that boat. Either the top/deck was 1.) riveted to the bottom/hull, or it was 2.) glassed to the bottom/hull. If it was riveted (and my suspicion is that's the case here) you can remove the top from the bottom pretty easily. Explaining how that's done here would be too lengthy. Again, abundant resources exist on the Internet explaining all of this. I would use wood and not Seacast of any other thing like that. As I read the description for how to do a Seacast transom repair, it seemed like too much work. The wood solution is much easier, and if you PROPERLY FIBERGLASS AND SEAL ALL THE WOOD IN YOUR TRANSOM rot is an issue you should never have to deal with in that boat ever again. Hope this helps, and good luck!

TG

http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n103/tadpoleig/
 

Mano del Sol

Seaman
Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Messages
56
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

I don't have much experience with boats but in general I agree with croSSed. Why screw around and have possibly have trouble later? If you are gonna do the work to fix it tear it apart and do it right that way you won't have to worry about it.
 

Sorrento 25

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Oct 9, 2006
Messages
181
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

If you have the time, tools, and ability to do the complete transom replacement and intend to keep the boat for a long time great. If not, the replacement of the lower wood will be a permanent repair in that area especially if it is isolated from the remainder of the transom wood as I described, and it should keep you boating for at least a few years. You will always have the option of going farther in the off-season.

I made the mistake of going too far on a boat I sold that did not have much value even in a good restored condition, and I wouldn't expect to see the value of your boat increase enough to compensate you for your time on a full transom replacement either. In many cases it could even scare away an uneducated prospective buyer instead of being a positive selling point.

Its pretty easy to start a project like this with the best intentions, but completing it can be a monumental task if you don't have any experience with this sort of work.
 

tashasdaddy

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Nov 11, 2005
Messages
51,019
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

go ahead and piece it and you will be doing it again, in a year or two. and wiil have to cut the glassing out to get the cap off then,. do it right or do it over. or just sell it it ,,, and let the next guy hate you.
 

scb2377

Cadet
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
Messages
19
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

I called Rinker to see what they think, the guy I spoke to in customer service, Gaynor Worden, was most unhelpful and past suggetsing I take it to a fiberglass repair shop had no input whatsovee. At least I know where I am not getting my next boat from.

I spoke to Sir William, at http://www.fiberglass-repair.com, very nice and helpfull fellow (like most boaters I have met) and this is what he advised:

"Forget about patching it as that is a waste of your time and will cost you as much in materials anyway.
Remove the engine cover.. There should be a tab on the upper part of the
engine block to allow you to attach a cumalong or chain fall or engine
stand lift. If not, you may need to talk to a mechanic.. Or have your
local marina remove and store the engine for you while you do the work..
If you remove it, you remove the four nuts securing it to the transom
after you ahve secured the motor to a lift, (so it doesn't fall on the
floor). After the motor is off, you remove the rub rail insert,
carefully so as not to tear it so you can re us it. Then unscrew the
screws or if rivits, drill out the pop rivits holding the rubrail with
3/16 drill and remove it. remove the transom aluminum cover and punch
out the plastic drain tubes. Remove all screws securing the deck to the
hull. Check your pump wiring sothat it will not be torn apart when
moving the deck. You may find some screws on the floor at the walk thru,
be sure to remove them also. Rais the fron portion of the deck up about
3" and slide a 2x4 across the hull to keep the deck up a little.. Then
from under you can drive wedges up on the front of the transom between
the inside of the splash well and the transom core to separate the deck
from the hull. Then raise the rear of the deck 3" and slide forward a
couple of feet. the rest is done as the transom DVD shows. I do have a
CDrom that plays on a computer that shows an old Glastron similar to
your Rinker that I did a transom and floor replacement on. Some of the
pictures from that CD appear on this page.
http://www.fiberglass-repair.com/about.html"

What do you think? Is this a one man job? How long should it take me? I assume the rub rails is the rubber band that wraps around the boat. I guess there are screws behind the rubber, I assume that if I unscrew them, i could than lift the entire deck off. Is this something thta O can do, without removing seats ... etc. If you worked on such thing, what can go wrong? My intention is to sell the boat end of this year/ next yera and upgrade to a new boat...that would be my graduation gift to myself!

The alternative would be cutting the lower part and replacing it with new plywood, treating the not so badly rotten top part with CEPS from http://www.rotdoctor.com ... get it running, sell it in two years... and like TD said let the next guy hate me... although, I would show them the work and explain them the history before they buy it.
 

ondarvr

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,527
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

I wouldn't expect a boat builder to give much more of an answer than that, the boat is 17 years old and I'm sure he didn't work there at that time and if he did, he wasn't in production so he wouldn't know anything about your boat. Plus with the liabilty of suggesting how to repair it over the phone without being able to look at it would be too high. They also make many differnt models and it's not like a car where you can pull up all the information on parts and designs on the computer, most of the time there's almost no information on something more than a couple of years old and even that info is limited.

If you know the rest of the wood is good, then you could just replace the rotten section. To do much more than that you most likely wouldn't be using the boat this season. You won't get any of your money back for the cost of the repairs when you sell it, so if you plan to get another boat soon, don't put much money into this one.
 

73Glastron

Recruit
Joined
May 5, 2009
Messages
2
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

I have a small 14 foot boat that im restoring, and i got rid of the rub rails and the vinyl insert. Is there and such rub rail that u dont need an insert for? Like just something that i can screw onto the boat for protection?
 

danond

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
1,118
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

Any full transom replacement will take you 2 months of nights and weekends if you have kids and a job other than replacing the transom in your boat.
 

Mark42

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
9,334
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

It would be a first on this forum for someone to just replace half a transom. It would be interesting to see how it progresses from being a half transom repair to a full transom repair. You know it would. :D
 

jonesg

Admiral
Joined
Feb 22, 2008
Messages
7,174
Re: Transom repair help needed - see pictures

It cannot be repaired, it has to be replaced with NEW TRANSOM.
On mine I cut the splashwell off and left the cap on the boat.

I made a new back wall from ply, glassed it both sides and installed it, then poured seacast into the gap.

Seacast was $500 but look at the $60 I saved in plywood!!:p

I think in retrospect Tash's way would be best for you, you'll be adding value to it and yeh the stringers need doing very likely.
So in your case I'd pop the cap.
 
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